Why Japan has Changed its Mind on Responsible Investment

Selected by the UK’s Department of International Trade to take part in their FinTech Trade Mission to Tokyo, I have just returned from the FinTech Summit (“FinSum”) in Tokyo which took place last week. Whilst there, I was struck by the level of interest in ESG issues, and ESG data in Japan. ESG refers to Environmental, Social and Governance factors that are used as part of the investment decision-making process. To understand how far Japan has moved in such a short time, consider this. The Tokyo Metropolitan Government has initiated a new Tokyo Financial Award to recognize financial institutions that…...